A Los Angeles TV helicopter has captured “disturbing” footage of deputies furiously beating a suspect who had fled officers on horseback after he was tased, dehorsed, and lying on the ground with his hands behind his back. The cops pounded the man’s upper body and head with foot kicks, knee kicks, and fist punches, hitting him more than 50 times. He is hospitalized in unknown condition.
The vicious police assault appears to be an instance of angry cops administering “street justice” in retaliation for an officer being injured by the horse and two more suffering dehydration during the pursuit.
The officers involved were San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies. They were attempting to serve a search warrant on the 30-year-old identity-theft suspect, whose rap sheet includes priors for armed robbery and resisting arrest, when he stole a horse and led cops on a 2-hour chase through rugged terrain.
A police spokesperson said, “There was an attempt to take him into custody and a use of force occurred [which] is now under investigation.”
Meanwhile, debate continues to swirl around a South Carolina police shooting that has resulted in the cop being fired and charged with murder because of a citizen’s video recording. In that incident, more cops are under scrutiny because “there are several claims in the initial police reports that are not supported in Santana’s video. … If it’s determined that multiple officers attempted to cover for the shooting officer, and it’s shown that those reports were false, this will be a devastating blow for law enforcement everywhere,” a CNN legal analyst said.
That may be overstating things, as that horse has left the barn (pun intented). Law enforcement’s credibility is already shot (no pun intended) because of a slew of shootings, excessive force incidents, wrongful convictions, harassment of citizens, and corruption cases. Until now, police everywhere in America have enjoyed virtual immunity, and it shows in their deteriorating behavior. As a result of a spate of recent cop killings of unarmed citizens, police behavior has become the focus of high-profile federal civil rights investigations and a raging national debate.
Update: San Bernardino County officials have agreed to let taxpayers pay $650,000 to the man beaten by sheriff’s deputies. No word yet on whether the deputies will lose their jobs or face criminal charges.